IN BRIEF

Crime

Gun crimes spark calls for action

Experts have called for stricter controls on guns across China after a series of shooting tragedies recently. In the latest case, three people were killed and eight injured in Huining county in Northwest China's Gansu province, according to local police, who captured the suspect on Feb 5.

In two robberies earlier this year, in the eastern city of Nanjing and the northeastern city of Shenyang, one man was killed and another injured. Gun related crime is rare in China, which bars individuals from owning guns.

Environment

Chemical spills cast long pall

Environmental accidents are on the rise in China, mainly due to the rapid growth of the chemical industry and urbanization, a senior environmental official said.

Last year, 542 environmental accidents were handled across the country, statistics from the Ministry of Environmental Protection showed.

"Nearly 60 percent of the accidents resulted from traffic accidents and from industrial production," Ling Jiang, deputy director of the department of pollution prevention and control under the ministry, said on Feb 6.

In a recent case in January, cadmium pollution in the upper Longjiang River posed a potential threat to water supply in the downstream city of Liuzhou, which has over 3.7 million residents.

Animal welfare

Stray dogs to learn new tricks

A project to train stray dogs to assist elderly people and those hard of hearing has been launched in Beijing.

The China Beijing Hearing-Dog Association plans to select dogs from an animal shelter in northern Changping district that is managed by the Beijing public security bureau, and to invite dog trainers from Japan.

"We'll choose young dogs, because it's easier to train them," project leader Wang Yue said. "The breed of dog is not so important."

This is the first time such a project has been tried in China and will be based on those in other countries.

Policy

Assets determine welfare sum

A new regulation will deny welfare subsidies to residents who own assets that require a certain level of income to buy, such as vehicles or real estate. Under the new rules, which will take effect in June, authorities will not only test applicants' family incomes but also factor in the value of their assets to see if they are eligible to receive benefits.

Currently, in an urban Beijing household where each family member's average monthly income is less than 520 yuan ($82, 62 euros), the minimum income standard set by the government for urban households, each member can get a subsidy to make up the difference between the individual's income and the standard. The threshold for rural households is 380 yuan.

In verifying eligibility, authorities will consider an applicant household's income, bank accounts, pension, stocks, securities, unemployment insurance and lottery proceeds.

China Daily

(China Daily 02/10/2012 page2)